Where the Past and Present Meet
by rebelyell59
Summary: There is a meeting of old and new Weiss assassins. How will the past effect the present? This is the first joint effort of rebelyell59 and unknown2.
1. Chapter 1

This is **rebelyell59** and **unknown2**, and we would like to invite all of you to read our first joint effort together. We have everyone's favorite good guys and not so good guys, as well as new characters. There is intrigue, murder, and everything else you've come to love in a Weiss Kruez fan fiction. We have posted the first two chapters and look forward to reading your comments and other suggestions. We will not mind constructive advice as long as you are respectful in the way you present it. So please continue reading and we hope you like…"Where the Past and Present Meet"

_**Prologue**_

The four children stood together looking at the graves. None of them spoke a word, the oldest looked at the rest, the youngest a three year old girl, started crying and he bent down and picked her up. He wondered how long he was going to keep them together. Already Social Services had been sniffing around.

They had been together all their lives, their parents had been friends since college, and had ended up living in the same town and becoming neighbors. So of course, their children had been best friends even with the age difference.

As Wren stood there, he knew that Social Services had been after the younger three already. At 18, he knew he was old enough to take care of the younger three, plus he knew he would have more than enough money to support them, but he also knew someone was pushing Social Services hard. The four of them were known to be "The Four Musketeers" and had sworn to be together forever.

Looking ahead of him, he could see the caskets of all of the parents. It had been decided they had all lived together, so they would be buried together. Wren had chosen this spot for the burial. The lake behind and the flowers and trees all around made this a beautiful place.

Looking down again at the other three, Robin had stopped crying and was trying to get to Wren. Wren reached down and picked her up. She cuddled in his arms and whispered to him "I wuv you, Wwen". Wren smiled at her and said "I love you, too Robin Bobbin." Wren started looking around again, and thought to himself "God, they won't even give us peace at our parents' funerals."

Two Social Services women had come to get Rayven, Lark, and Robin away. Robin had fallen asleep in his arms. "Rayven" he said quietly to the girl next to him. "We have to get you, Lark and Robin to my house." "That thing is so big; I can hide you guys until we get this straight." Rayven looked around and spotted the two women from Social Services. "I am not going with them, I've told you before." "I've told you before; I am not letting them take you three and separating us." Wren told her.

After they got away to Wren's home, the two women from Social Services arrived. "We've come for the children, where are they?" one of the women said. "They are not here. Rayven, Lark, and Robin have had a hard time dealing with this and the doctors told us not to push them." Wren replied.

"You did not answer our question" said the second woman. "Where are the children?"

"I've told you, the doctors said not to push them, so they are at home under a doctor's care." Wren told the women.

"Then we will just have to go to the home and pick them up." the first woman said. Wren looked at the women and told them," You will not do anything that will hurt them." "They don't need strangers coming in and taking them from the only friends and family they've known."

"Won't allow it?" replied the second woman, "Who do you think you are? It is our duty and our job to take those children and we will."

Wren looked at the women with a small smile on his face, "And I am telling you, you will not have them, so go away and never come back."

"Fine, we will just call the police and have them forcibly removed." was the answer shot back by the first woman.

"You will have to find them first, and then remember who our parents were, you will never have them." was the biting reply from Wren.

Then Wren did something that froze everyone around them.

He smiled.

**Chapter 1:**

"Put that over there." Ran ordered.

Ken glared at him with hazel eyes, trying as hard as he could to make his beautiful eyes look threatening, but he knew he had lost.

He sighed, "Yes, sir…" he muttered as he put up the fresh batches of Lillies on the other side of the flower shop.

Ran sighed as he sat down, he drummed his fingers along the table as the chattering girls roamed around the place trying to get at least one of theirs attention. His gaze moved to Yohji who was shamelessly flirting with some high schoolers by the window. He looked to his left to see Omi trying to get some clinging girls off his arms as he called for help.

_Annoying girls, _Ran muttered, _how can we run a business if these girls won't leave us in peace, _he thought slightly annoyed.

Omi frowned and looked at Ken, "Boy, Aya sure is grumpy today."

Ken grinned, "You know that's how Ran is." Was the reply, "He's grumpy because Aya is going on her first date and he is having a hard time with it."

Omi's mouth formed an o and he smiled, "Typical."

"Yes." Ken agreed.

Ran stood up sighing, "Alright that's enough girls, could we please have some peace, so we can get some work done!" he demanded.

All the girls stood still, looking very surprised.

"Ahem." came a voice from the door.

Everybody turned and spotted a beautiful tall red head standing by the door, her arms were crossed, "Open for business, boys?" she asked playfully.

"Manx, darling, welcome." Yohji smiled as he walked towards her.

"Sorry ladies, but we have to close." Omi spoke shooing them out.

Ken locked up the place after him.

"Let's go downstairs." Ran ordered.

"This is boring." Schuldig muttered tossing an apple in the air, as he sat on the couch.

Nagi had his hands on his lap in deep thought ignoring his surroundings.

They were in a lavish hotel room, waiting for their next assignment. Schuldig truly enjoyed every assignment to its core, but the waiting would literally kill him, that's why he wasted most of his time playing with the staff's mind as he pleased.

"That idiot of a boss, Takatori!" Schuldig muttered, angered by the notion of being locked in, "Locking us in here like we were animals."

"Calm down, Schuldig." Crawford said, "You know he has no hold over us."

"It is not our time to leave." he stated confidently

"I don't think he locked us in anyway," Farfarello spoke, licking one of his swords, "It is to keep his paranoid mind from panicking."

Crawford's lips curved upwards in a smile, "Patience is a virtue, my assassin friends."

Schuldig was going to retort back when the door unlocked, and in came Takatori. His eyes trailed to those in the room, "Gentlemen."

"Listen to me, you basta…" Schuldig began, but suddenly stopped. Behind Takatori stood a beautiful young girl, who seemed to be around the age of 20. She was slender and tall, with beautiful long black hair that went down her back, with astonishing grey eyes.

Crawford stood up, his eyes on Takatori, "I was told that you have no wish of our services anymore."

"I was wrong." Takatori spoke, "This is my niece." Pushing the girl towards them, "She will need surveillance; I want you guys to protect her at all cost."

Nagi stood up, "I do not understand why your niece would be needing surveillance," he spoke, "Isn't she Persia's daughter?"

That caught Crawford and Schuldigs attention, "Persia's daughter?" Schuldig began, "Why would we need to protect her."

Takatori smiled evilly, "Because I kidnapped her."

Lark was not happy, he had no idea what had happened earlier, but he was clearly not happy.

Somehow in the midst of the events this morning, Wren had managed to lose it, again. "Oh Wren," he muttered smacking his forehead, "You're supposed to be the older one." he said shaking his head.

He sat down crossing his arms on his bent knee and looked outside at the city of Japan, his eyes trailed to the mass of people walking along the streets as if their lives depended on it. His thoughts were at ease, when suddenly his ears prickled and felt someone behind him…

"Your guard is down." said the soft feminine voice, "It's only me."

Lark didn't turn around, "Is he calm?"

Her beautiful lavender eyes somehow sparkled, "Wren is always calm."

Lark snorted.

The young girl of eighteen sat next to him, "What's on your mind?"

"Nosey Rayven." He muttered, knowing she hated his nickname for her.

She crossed her arms, "Lark." She said firmly.

"Nothing." He said firmly, "Nothing." His voice quiet and distant.

"What are we having?" asked a young teen of 13, to the taller man as he chopping vegetables.

Wren's eyes trailed to her, "Vegetables." He muttered.

She crinkled her nose, "Again?"

He poked her nose, "I feed you vegetables so you can grow up healthy."

"But I'm grown." She began, "See? I'm as tall as Rayven! and my boobs are bigger than hers…" she spoke.

Wren almost choked on the last sentence, "Excuse me…" he began.

"Bye Uncle Wren." She had heard the phone start ringing, so she started running out of the door.

"Sheesh!" was heard from Wren as he busied himself in the kitchen. His mind was not into it; every time he went into the kitchen meant his mind was occupied. He knew why, it was Lark, they had gotten into one their silly arguments again and he knew he had lost it this morning.

Looking towards the room where Lark and Rayven were sitting, Wren thought about their argument this morning. Lark had been asking questions about their parents' deaths and Wren had wanted him to stop asking. Lark had just pushed and pushed until Wren had snapped.

_**Flashback to that morning**_

"So you really want to know what happened that night." Wren had asked, "Are you sure you can handle the truth? Have you never wondered why I never discussed our parents except in just general terms or memories?"

Lark had just stared at Wren. What was wrong with him, all Lark had done was ask about his parents death. He had been so upset at the time to really remember what had happened. So he had asked Wren about it. "What is your problem?" was Lark's reply. "All I did was ask about my parents, there is no need to go completely in orbit."

Wren, by this time completely lost it. He had for the last ten years, tried so hard to keep the facts surrounding all of the parents' deaths from the younger ones. He did not want them to know all of the gory details, he wanted them to keep the wonderful memories they had of them. Lark was asking too much from him, to relive that time, that place, and all of the horrible memories.

"Why can't you just leave it alone?" Wren asked Lark. "Why is it so important to you?" Lark looked at him, "You can remember them all, Wren, and I can barely remember my parents' faces." "As first, I could remember every little detail, places we went, things we did, even their faces. Now, all I have is a vague memory that is why I asked" was Lark's reply. "Now I have a question for you, why all the hostility?" "It's not like you to get so hyper about a simple question." Lark looked at Wren.

Wren stood there just looking at him, wondering how to answer. Wren knew he had overreacted, but how else was he suppose to act, knowing all of the disgusting details.

"You have to know? All you need to know is right there on the tapes and in the photo albums. You do not need to know anything more." Wren yelled at Lark, knowing all the time he was in the wrong but couldn't stop himself.

"Fine" yelled back Lark, "I guess if I want answers, I'll have to get them on my own."

_**End of Flashback**_

Wren turned around and finished fixing dinner while still thinking about the argument. Robin came back in to the room after her phone call, "That was Cindy; she wanted to know if I could spend this weekend with her. She and her parents' are going to Tokyo Disney and want me to go with them. Pleeease."

Wren looked over at Robin, who had gotten on her knees, looking up at Wren with big eyes begging.

"Hmm, so you want to go to Tokyo Disney with Cindy this weekend? I guess I could say yes, but there is just one little problem." was Wren's reply.

"What? What?" asked Robin? "Well I remember asking a certain person to clean her room about two days ago, and you know what? I went by that room tonight, and guess what I found?" replied Wren.

"I know, room's dirty." was the forlorn reply.

"Well, I might change my answer if whoever's room is cleaned and the dishes are done tonight." Wren said smiling.

"I swear that my room will be spotless and the dishes will be done for the next two days if you say yes." was heard from the pleading girl.

Laughing at her, Wren looked down at Robin and said "Alright, after dinner you can call Cindy and tell her it is OK for this weekend."

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" came the squealing voice of the young girl.

"I'll remember that the next time you tell me I'm mean and you hate me and will never speak to me again." was the reply that came back.

Wren started putting dinner on the table. As well as the vegetables, there was rice, and sushi. "Go call Lark and Rayven for dinner, Robin Bobbin" Wren asked.

"OK, oh great one, your wish is my command." was the smart answer from Robin.

Wren swatted her on the butt with the tea towel he held in his hand.

Lark and Rayven came into the dining room followed by Robin. "Guess what, guys." asked the excited girl. "What?" was the reply from Lark and Rayven.

"I get to go with Cindy and her parents to Tokyo Disney and spend the weekend." Robin said.

"Oh, I see how it is, some people get what they want, when they do what you say. Right, Wren?" Lark said angrily.

Wren looked at Lark and said, "We will discuss this later when we are alone and both of us have calmed down."

"What if I don't want to wait, what if I want to have it out now, what will happen then?" was the smart reply from the younger boy.

Robin looked at both guys and was starting to get upset.

"Lark, I won't go if you do not want me to, I can spend it with you instead." Robin told Lark.

"I don't need your pity, little girl; you can go to hell for all I care." was the angry reply from Lark.

Robin left the table crying, while Rayven and Wren looked at him.

"I can accept that you are mad at me" Wren told Lark, "but, that doesn't give you the right to take it out on Robin. All she wanted to do was share her good news with you like she has done so many times before. So I suggest you get your ass out of that chair and go apologize to her.

"Then later, we will have a discussion on your behavior." Lark looked over at Rayven for support and Rayven told him, "I have to agree with Wren on this one Lark, I think you should apologize to Robin, she had nothing to do with your mood."

Lark stood up and went upstairs and stood outside of Robin's room. After knocking on her door, Lark went in and found Robin lying on her bed crying. Looking around her room, you could tell that it was a typical young girl's room.

Decorated in pastel colors of blues, pinks and greens, there were posters of pop stars, as well as posters of mythical creatures. Lark walked over to the bed, and sat down.

"Robin" Lark said, reaching for the younger girl. Pulling away from him, Robin told Lark to go away.

"No. I'm not leaving until you look and listen to me." Lark said. Robin rolled over and looked at Lark with tears streaking down her face.

Reaching over to gently wipe the tears from her face, Lark said quietly, "Robin, it wasn't your fault what happened at the table. I'm glad that you are going to have this special weekend. I envy you; you are going to have such a great time. I was mad at Wren over an argument we had earlier, and I took it out on you. You know how much I love you and would never talk to you like that. Please forgive me and tell your friend yes you are going."

Robin looked up at Lark and said quietly, "You hurt me by what you said. I'm not sure if I can forgive you right now, because I'm still upset. I will probably forgive you later after I have calmed down." "Alright, I accept that, so come on, we are waiting dinner for you." Lark replied. Going downstairs, both of them went to the dining room where Rayven and Wren were waiting for them.

Wren looked up at Robin and said, "Are you OK, Robin Bobbin?" "Not now, but I will be. Can I still go this weekend?" was Robin's reply. "What was the agreement between us earlier?" Wren asked Robin. "I'm suppose to clean my room and do the dishes." was the answer given.

"That's right, you said you were going to do the dishes for the next two days. "Wasn't that right, little girl?" Wren asked looking at Robin.

"Did I say that? I don't remember saying anything like that? I must have amnesia." was the smart reply from Robin.

Wren started laughing at her and held his arms open, Robin went flying into them and gave Wren a great big hug and kiss. "I love you Wren, thank you for letting me go."

Wren swatted her butt and sent her back to her seat. "Let's eat before everything is ruined." Wren said and then looked at Lark, "I will talk to you later."

"Fine" was the reply from Lark

Schuldig studied the young woman quietly, her beauty was dazzling and he was trying to understand her, but couldn't focus. Its like every time he tried reading her mind, his mind scrambled.

"Stop it." She said softly sitting next to Nagi.

Schuldig looked up, "What…"

"Stop reading my mind."

Crawford adjusted his glasses and looked at her, "Interesting." Standing up, he crossed his arms standing in front of her, "Why were you kidnapped?"

She looked down, "I don't know." She admitted.

Farfarello sat close to her, watching her with a threatening gaze, "Interesting."

"Don't come near me." Fay said, as a slight force pushed Farfarello away.

Nagi looked at her, "You're not an ordinary woman." He observed.

Schuldig rubbed his jaw, "Looks like Uncle Takatori had made some plans."

She sighed leaning back onto the sofa; "I really don't care." was the reply as she crossed her legs.

Crawford watched the young woman; any other woman in her position would be terrified by now. But there stood Fay and looking calm and composed, he admired her as well, it had been a while since he had met anyone with so much poise and elegance.

"Why did he kidnap his own niece?" Schuldig spoke leaning on one knee in front of her, his face on the same line as hers, "What is he thinking of?" he repeated softly.

She stood up ignoring his gaze, "The question is why you are here? All locked up?"

"Locked up?" Crawford chuckled; "Hardly, my dear." was the answer given as he stood next to her.

Nagi twitched his eye and the door unlocked, "Never."

Farfarello stood up, "Let's go."

They all stood up.

"Wait…" she began, "Where are you guys going?" she began.

"We leaving this place, missy, whether you like it or not." Schuldig grinned.

Crawford walked towards the door, but she held his arm, "You can't leave me here with that monster." she told him. Crawford adjusted his glasses and looked at her, "Well…" as she held onto his arm, "You can't guarantee that we aren't monsters either." He said softly.

She looked taken aback.

"You can always follow us." Schuldig hinted as he walked out the door.

"What's up, Manx." Yohji spoke, "You haven't graced us with your beautiful self for a long time." he said holding her waist lightly.

She pushed him away, "Whatever…" she muttered picking out a file from her bag, "This is your next assignment." Handing Ran the file.

"Name, Lark Lee Wren." Ran read. "Former gang member for the syndicate, joined for a year than left for unknown reasons." He read out loud, "Whereabouts are unknown." He muttered.

Ken took the file from him, "Jesus! He's just a kid, just twenty."

"We never question a target." Yohji reminded him.

Ran frowned, "I have to admit I am not comfortable about this either."

"Why are we targeting him?" he asked.

Manx crossed her arms, "I am surprised the name Wren didn't ring a bell."

Ran's eyes widened in surprised, he got certain flashbacks, and then stopped. "Are you telling me this kid is his son?" he demanded.

"Brother." She finished.

Ken was quiet as well, "This is bad." He muttered.

"This is getting very personal." Yohji agreed.

Omi had no idea what they were talking about.

"They did what?" Reiji demanded from his desk.

The man in a suit looked at him through dark glasses, "Escaped." He repeated firmly.

"And why are you standing here? After them! Bring them back to me." He ordered, "Dead or alive."

The man hesitated, "And the girl?"

"I don't care." He said evilly.

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

"And you guys are supposed to be assassins?" Fay snapped as she ran alongside Schwartz, through the Takatori building.

Schuldig held her hand as he dodged bullets, was heard to ask, "Why are we running?"

"This building has a lock down system, if we take the time to stay and fight, they can lock us in; and we would not be able to break out until morning." Crawford explained as they stood by a wall.

"But Nagi…" she began.

"It will take me time." Nagi told her, "By then there's no telling what would happen."

She frowned.

"Uh-oh." Farfarello spoke as a grenade was thrown where they were.

"Take cover!" Schuldig yelled as something exploded and he heard gun shots as well.

_Hours Later _

Nagi was breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself down. Somehow in the midst of the smoke, he had managed to escape and stay in one piece. He checked himself out and found he had no major injuries. He looked to his side and found Farfarello sitting next to him as they sat on the street corner. "Where are the others?" Nagi asked.

"It will take more than an explosion to bring them down." Farfarello answered.

Nagi sighed knowing his was right, "We'll need to rest and meet everyone in 48 hours at the meeting place."

"Correct." Farfarello answered. The Schwartz always had a code, if in a battle and they got separated, they were to lay low, rest themselves, and then regroup at their meeting place in 48 hours.

"Let's go to my place." Nagi offered, "No one knows about it."

Farfarello nodded.

Schuldig coughed up the smoke he had inhaled, plus the water, he had swallowed, after he had somehow gotten thrown into a lake. He had managed to hold his breath so as not to try to inhale any smoke, but had inhaled some anyway. He finally crawled over to the pavement and sat down. _That idiot Takatori! _He swore, _one minute we are protecting him, and the next minute he tries to kill us, _his eyes said raging. "You have officially made an enemy out of us, Mr. Takatori." he thought angrily, "You will pay for your betrayal." was another thought going through his mind as his green eyes flashed wildly.

"You're hurt." Fay spoke softly watching Crawford. He was on his knees on the floor trying to catch his breath; one of his hands was on his rib where he had been shot. Somehow in the midst of the madness, he had managed to throw Fay off guard as the explosion hit and the bullets started flying and pulled her with him out of the building. He didn't know why he did it, but something had told him this girl was to be protected, even from someone like Reiji.

"I'll be fine." He spoke standing up, but winced and almost fell. Fay held him up by holding him by the waist, "Men can be so stubborn." She muttered and commanded, "Put your arm around my shoulder."

He swore softly and did so.

"Any idea where to go?" she asked.

"Not really, we're to meet the others in 48 hours." he answered as they walked.

"Then I know just the place to go." Fay said smiling.

Walking up to the flower shop, Crawford felt like this place was familiar. Looking around, all he could see from his vantage point was a sea of girls.

_How could anyone that works here stand all that squealing and screaming all day long? _was Crawford's thought as he stood there.

Fay stood by his side and leaned over to talk to him. "I know the guys that work here, and they will let us stay here until we need to meet the others."

"I guess this would be the best, as we will not be safe on the streets, and I really don't know of any other place we can go." was Crawford's reply.

Looking around, Fay started smiling as she spotted someone.

"_Who is she looking at?" _wondered Crawford.

Telling him not to move, she ran inside and Crawford could hear her squealing with delight.

Coming to door, Fay hollered to Crawford, "Come inside, I have some people I want you to meet."

Slowly walking to the door, Crawford went inside and spotted Fay with a group of guys. Now he wasn't very happy about that, but really couldn't figure out why.

"Crawford, I want you to meet some friends of mine……Guys, this is Crawford, I think you could call him my jailer."

As the guys turned around, everyone recognized each other at the same time. "Oh, hell no, there is no way I'm staying here with these jackasses."

"Well guess what, dumbass, we don't want you here anyway, so just shag your happy ass out the door." was the angry reply heard from one of the guys.

"Fine with me, we will find some other place to stay for the next couple of days." Crawford said.

Now while the guys had been yelling at each other, Fay had been standing to the side trying to figure out just what the hell was going on. "Guys" yelled Fay over all of the commotion, "Guys"….. "

"What" was the comment heard from all five men, who all had extremely violent looks on their faces.

"Can you please tell me just what the hell is going on? All of you are acting like you are the worst enemies, and as far as I know you don't even know each other." was the comeback from Fay.

They all looked at each other and tried to decide how to handle this situation. Now they all knew that there were two ways they could handle this: One, admit they knew one another and hated each other guts, or Two, lie big time and make up some lame excuse why they had gone ballistic.

Now with option number one, that was a major no no, because they would have to explain how the knew each other and they couldn't tell Fay that Weiss were assassins, and rivals of Schwartz. Option two seemed to be the best bet, but how were they going to explain the blowup.

Fay looked at them, "OK, I am waiting for some one to tell me what is going on?"

After looking around at each other, it was Crawford who spoke up. "I must apologize, I thought they were some other people I knew and as you can tell by my reaction, I don't feel friendly towards them."

"Please excuse my horrible temper; I really thought for a moment all of you were the other people." Crawford gritted out between his teeth.

It was Yohji who answered him with a smirk on his face. "That's alright, pal, we guys understand things like that. Let's kiss and make up."

Fay almost choked at the reply from Yohji, and Crawford looked like he wanted to punch out Yohji.

"Look, let's go upstairs and you can tell us what is going on." Aya said. "Yohji, close up the shop."

After going upstairs, and cleaning and bandaging Crawford's gunshot wound, the guys looked to Fay and Crawford for an explanation.

"Earlier today, my boss brought Fay to my apartment and told me and the gentlemen I work with, that we were to guard Fay." Crawford was the first to say.

"Did he happen to say why Fay needed protecting?" was the response from Ken. "No not to us at the time." was the reply from Crawford.

Fay spoke up at this time, "I was walking down the street going to work, when this black car drove up next to me and this man leaned out of the window and told me to get into the car."

"Of course, my answer to that was, _I didn't know him and it just wasn't going to happen. _ "He then told me he was from my uncle and my uncle wanted to see me."

As Fay was talking the Weiss guys were looking at Schwarz, trying to figure out where they fit in.

Crawford then noticed Fay holding her left side, "What is wrong with your side, why are you holding it?"

"Nothing, just a small scratch, nothing to worry about." was the fast reply from Fay.

By now, all of the guys were looking at her, and by their facial expressions, you could see they were not accepting any of her act.

"Alright then, since it's not such a big deal, you will take off your dress, and let us look at it." Crawford said.

"Are you nuts?" came the swift reply from the shocked girl. "Just take off my dress in front of five guys and then let them take their time staring at me……I don't think so." was the smart remark from Fay.

After looking at each other, Crawford and Omi held Fay down while the other three got Fay's dress off.

Now just picture this folks, five guys trying to take off the dress of one girl, while said girl, was trying to take their heads off.

They finally got the dress off, only to see a giant gash in Fay's side. "Where the hell did you get that?" yelled Crawford (he seemed to be doing a lot of that since he had met Fay, not being his usual cool, calm self.)

"None of your frickin' damn business, smart ass." Fay answered.

"Well guess what, we are all making it our frickin' damn business." was the reply from Yohji.

After several minutes of fighting between Fay and the guys, Omi finally patched up Fay's side and had given her a pain pill that fortunately put her to sleep.

"OK Schwartz, now tell us what the hell is going on?"

"All we know is this morning Takatori brought her to our apartment and told us to guard her. When we asked who she was, we were told she was his niece."

"Didn't any warning bells sound?" asked Aya.

"Not until after she had taunted us about being prisoners and not being able to leave the apartment." Crawford said.

"What do you mean by that?" Omi asked.

"We ran into a little trouble….like when we tried to leave, they tried to lock us in the building and tried to kill us." Crawford told them.

"Isn't that taking things a little far, even for Takatori?" Yohji said.

Crawford thought about the answer before he spoke in his normal cool tones. "We don't like the man, but we were hired to do a job, and that job was to protect him and follow his orders. It doesn't matter what our personal feelings were, we just did it." was the answer.

"Alright, we are not going to solve anything tonight, so let's just go to bed and we will think of something in the morning." Omi said. "We will put Fay in Ken's room, and he can bunk with me. Crawford, you can sleep here on the couch." were the next words from Omi.

After everyone had left, Crawford laid on the couch and thought of the rest of his team. _I hope they got out alright and will be at the meeting place in two days_.

Then he fell asleep.

_Later that night_

Ken sighed as he quietly watched Fay sleep soundly on his bed.

He reached to touch her cheeks, but restrained himself. _Damn! WhyWhyWhy, did it have to be Crawford! What was he doing with her? _Ken thought annoyingly.

He had met her several years ago by accident at a formal party when he was there to do a job and was immediately attracted to her. Throughout, he had noticed each member of Weiss had somehow managed to meet her as well throughout their assignments, and therefore she had become a friend to all.

Fay stirred and blinked lightly, she suddenly sat up, "Oh." She said softly, "Kenny, where am I?" she asked, then her eyes widened, "Oh my!" as she noticed that she was only in her underwear, she quickly held the blanket around her, her cheeks reddening in the process.

Even Ken was embarrassed and turned his head away, "Are you alright?" he asked absently.

"Yes." she muttered.

Ken stood up and pulled a shirt from his closet, "Put this on." he ordered throwing it at her.

She took it and slipped it on, "Thanks." she said quietly, then she looked around,

"Where's Crawford?"

Ken gritted his teeth, "He is…" he muttered, "In the room next to us."

She stood up, "I'm going to go and check on him."

He held her arm and as she stopped, asked "Do you think it's wise?"

"Excuse me?"

"That man…" he began, then he stopped and let go off her arm," Never mind."

Ran was quiet as he sat in his room, thinking of Aya and Sakura. Aya had been happy when she had gotten home earlier tonight, but later got annoyed with the guys because they had literally scared her date half to death by interrogating him.

"I'm old enough!" she had snapped at Ran.

He remembered how he had ignored her remark, and then had his thoughts turn to Wren.

Before Omi had been assigned to the Weiss, their fourth member had been Wren. He had been an assassin like them, but quit when he was reunited with his family.

Wren had been complicated, one minute he could be calm, cool, and collected, and then next he would lose his temper without any warning.

Back then, he had met Lark on several missions, but he was never felt threatened.

Ran knew he had to take on the job without any questions, but he wondered if just this once, Persia could've been wrong.

_In Yohji's room, Yohji is speaking to Manx:_

"She will be fine." Yohji spoke on his mobile. He was lying on his back on the bed and talking to Manx quietly.

"Persia was worried about her; apparently Takatori kidnapped her while she was shopping earlier." Manx explained.

"Say Manx." Yohji began, "What is so special about her?"

"Huh?"

Yohji took a drag off his cigarette, "Why all this fuss over one little girl?"

Manx chuckled, "She's hardly little, Yohji."

"Don't change the subject, Manx."

"Everything has its time." Manx replied hanging up.

"Weird," he muttered lying back down; closing his eyes, as he laid on his back facing the ceiling.

"It will definitely be a good day tomorrow." he thought trying to get some sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"Come on Lark," Rayven pouted.

Lark rolled his eyes, "Rayven…" he muttered.

"Hold my hands." She flirted.

"Rayven please…" blushing.

Wren walked in and watched the two, "What's going on?" he asked.

"He won't hold my hands in public." She argued.

Wren looked amused.

"I…" Lark began blushing; "It's just not me Ray." he told her quietly, "all guys feel like that."

She looked at him furiously, "Listen to me very carefully, you sexist…" she began, her eyes flashing wildly.

Wren intervened, "Okay, okay! That's enough." trying to break up the fight before it started. "Calm down."

"It's just not me, Ray! I'm not that romantic."

She turned around; "Fine." was the answer as she walked out of the room.

"Jesus!" he swore, "What's wrong with her and her stupid mood swings."

Wren sighed, "It's…" he began, "It's a woman thing." He muttered.

"Damn right." Lark replied walking out.

_**The next morning**_

Crawford was sitting up as he sighed, he was trying to breath regularly, but the wound was affecting him more than he had anticipated. He was sweating and shaking at the same time.

"Crawford." came a startled voice, Fay rushed to his side, "What's wrong?" she asked obviously worried.

"Just trying to get to get my breath back." was Crawford's reply.

Fay stood looking at him with a worried look in her eyes wondering if she should say anything else.

"Get that worried look out of your eyes. I'm fine, just a little banged up. If you keep looking at me that way, I'll have to resort to some serious tactics…and by the way, where are all of your boyfriends? "Crawford asked.

"Very funny, I wondered if you had a sense of humor." was the smart reply of Fay. "Yohji, Aya, and Ken are in the shop. Omi is in school."

We need to leave tonight to meet up with the others at the meeting place. So you need to be ready to leave by 6:00." Crawford told Fay.

"Why should I go back with you? I can stay here with the guys." was the answer from Fay

"Look, until I'm told otherwise, you're to keep your cute little butt with us." Crawford said.

"But..." she began.

"I'm sorry, but no." he told her firmly, "And don't argue with me."

She sighed; she knew she should feel threatened, but somehow she didn't object, being with" Cute little butt, huh?" came the laughing retort. "So you think it's cute, boy you just don't know people do you? Here I thought you were this cool as a cucumber man, but you are really a tiger." Fay smirked at Crawford made her safe.

Crawford couldn't think of a quick retort fast enough, and Fay went laughing out of the room. _I'm going to get her back for that little stunt, believe you me._ thought

Crawford.

**_Later that night at the meeting place_**

Crawford and Fay met the others at the meeting place, which happened to be a very fancy penthouse on the other side of Tokyo.

"How are all of you?" Crawford asked Schuldig.

"Just cuts and bruises, that's all." came the reply.

Crawford called all of them to the living room. "OK, let's get the debriefing done, and then we can just relax for the rest of the evening."

"Alright, here is what we know for certain, last night we were attacked while trying to leave the apartment building. Has anyone figured out what the hell was going on?" Crawford asked the room.

"Well, what I came up with was, Takatori had us under surveillance since before he brought Fay to us. I found bugs placed in our apartment as well as in our cars." Nagi responded.

"What the hell? In our cars as well as the apartment, OK Crawfie, I know you will let us get that jackass now, right?" came the angry response from Schuldig.

"No, we are not going after Reji Takatori right this moment. But what we will do is now plan our revenge. Farfarello for you it means you get to play with Takatori."

"Anything I want?" Farfarello asked.

"Anything you want." Crawford smirked at Farfarello.

"Everyone get a good nights' sleep and starting tomorrow, we start Operation Takatori."

"Fay, would you like to go out tonight?" Nagi asked Fay.

"Are you kidding? When we tried it last night, we had the shit kicked out us." was Fay's reply.

"Well we thought we would go out for awhile to unwind, then come back and get a good nights' sleep." Nagi told her. "Crawford, are you coming with us?"

"No, Nagi, I will stay here and keep Fay company. Don't stay out to late, or you won't be any good tomorrow. Go have a good time." Crawford answered.

So as the rest of the guys left, Crawford and Fay settled down on the couch. "Do you want something to drink, a night cap, Fay?"

"Yes, a glass of wine would be nice." Fay replied.

As they enjoyed their drinks, they looked at each other. _God, she is beautiful and sexy. I would love to take her to bed and make passionate love to her all night._ thought Crawford, then he stopped. _What's this? I haven't thought like that for a long time, _shaking his head..

Fay looked at him closely and leaned closer, "Sleepy." She muttered as she put her head on his shoulders, _Damn, he is one fantastic looking man. Tall, dark, and sexy. Wonder if he is as hot in bed as he looks._ thought Fay.

He put an arm around her and kissed her cheeks lightly.

She sat up a bit straight and kissed his lips lightly.

Crawford leaned over and kissed Fay back. "Am I getting the right thoughts from you? Will you go to bed with me tonight, no strings, and no promises?" He told her quietly, "I am not someone you would want to get involved with."

Fay looked at Crawford, "Yes, no strings, and no promises." She said softly kissing him back. Only hot sweaty monkey sex."

They got up and turned off the lights, then walked down the hallway to Crawford's bedroom.

"Gone?" Ken swallowed, "They're…." He sat down.

"Ken…" Omi began.

He banged his fist on the wall and walked out.

"What's wrong with Kenny?" Aya said softly.

"It's obvious." Sakura chuckled as she licked an ice cream cone, "He is in loooooooooooove." She said with a small grin on her face.

Yohji stopped, "Love?" he asked, "Ken?"

"Idiot," Ran muttered clipping the thorns of the roses.

Ken sat in his room wondering how Fay could go with a low life like Crawford.

_God, doesn't she realize he could get her killed? Does she even give a damn, or is she only thinking of how attractive he is, and how good in bed he is?_

Now think about this people, guys are not the only ones who think like this, only women are more subtle about it.

There was a knock on the door and Omi's voice was heard. "Ken, please open the door, I need to talk to you."

"Is there a mission? Someone die?" asked Ken.

"No, I just want to talk to you." replied Omi.

"About what? If it's about Fay and Crawford, I don't want to hear about it." Ken answered.

"Alright, if you want to talk later, you will know where I will be." was the answer back.

**Crawford's bedroom—late in the morning**

Crawford looked down at Fay; last night was just what they had said, no strings, no promises, just wild, hot monkey sex.

That brought a smile to Crawford's face, but he hid it as Fay woke up.

"Good morning" came the husky morning voice of Fay's, "Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning" answered Crawford. "Yes very well when I finally got to sleep." he teased her lightly "Someone kept me awake demanding all kinds of things."

"Really?" answered Fay, "I thought I gave as well as I received last night, my mistake."

Crawford looked down at her before getting out of bed and heading for the shower. Fay looked at him, wanting to follow, but knowing what had been said last night still remained in effect this morning.

"I have to meet with the guys this morning, but feel free to stay in bed and rest more or get up and take a shower." Crawford told Fay as he was getting dressed.

"I enjoyed myself last night, you make a wonderful lover," he told her; he knew he was going to regret this, but he had to do it. If anyone got involved with him, that person would be in danger, they all knew it. "Fay?" he began.

"Yes." She said absently.

"I have to go." he told her quietly, "You might not see me _again_."And with that he walked out the door

Fay sighed looking down asthe tears flowed down her cheeks.

She laid back on his bed trying to enhale his scent and the warm feeling she had felt the previous night.

"What are you doing up this early morning, Omi?" Ran asked.

"Research." He mumbled.

He looked curious, "Of?"

He chewed on a pencil as he typed into the computer, "This Lark fellow." He spoke, "I want to know more about him, his activities, among other things."

"Oh." He muttered, then sighed leaving him alone.

"I especially want to know what his involvement was with you guys." Omi spoke in a whisper once Ran was gone.

Yohji and Ken were scouting some areas for any information they could find in the city. "Who would've thought it would come to this?" Yohji muttered looking through his binoculars.

Ken sighed, "Yeah." He muttered, "Fate is weird."

Yohji smirked as he lit a cigarette, "Any news?"

"Not really." Ken said as he sat a rock.

"Stake outs can be so boring." Ken said while complaining.

Yohji nodded in silence.

"Do you think he is Tokyo?" asked Ken.

"I guess so, but who knows with him." replied Yohji.

"You know that outside of Aya, Wren was the quietest one of us all, which is why he and Aya got along so well, like you and I get along."

The two of them looked at each other and smiled.

_Wren's house_

"Wren, I'm leaving now, I will see you Sunday afternoon." yelled Robin.

"Wait one minute, if you think you are going to yell at me, then march out the door, you better think again. Where is my hug and kiss goodbye?' asked Wren.

Robin ran and threw herself in Wren's arms and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good time, Robin Bobbin, and I will see you Sunday afternoon." Wren told the young girl.

All of a sudden, Robin got a serious look on her face and asked him, "Do you promise? You won't go away like everyone else did, will you?"

"Oh, Robin sweetie" Wren answered the girl, "Have you been having those nightmares again? Why didn't you come to me? You know that I would have driven them away for you."

"I'm supposed to be a big girl now" Robin said, "I shouldn't run to you all the time, that is what the teacher says."

"I'm telling you, whenever you have any problem even if you are 95, come to me, I will fix it for you." Wren smiled at Robin and winked at her. "Now wipe your eyes, and go have a good time. I love you."

"Love you, too" Robin smiled back at Wren. "See you Sunday."

Wren watched as Robin ran to her friends' car, and thought to himself it was time to visit Robin's teachers again

_**Later that day**_

"You're looking depressed, my dear." Persia spoke over his desk as he studied Fay.

"I'm fine." she said absently looking outside the tall building of the Takatori family.

She had gone home after her night with Crawford, and she was depressed, so she had come straight to her father so she could keep busy and keep her mind off him.

She shook her head and looked at his concerned face, "Do you have anything for me to do?" she asked softly.

He walked towards her and took her hand in his, "Go home." he told her.

She looked down, "I can't." she admitted, "I need to keep my mind busy."

Picking up a file absently, "Why aren't you involving me in your work? What do you do, father? Why is there all this secrecy?"

"It's better you not know," he said, "It's better for everyone."

"Stop saying that.'

"Fay…"

"You just don't trust me." was heard from Fay as she walked out angrily.

Persia sighed guiltily.

Wren walked absently across the streets sighing, he had had a long talk with Robin's teacher about not filling her head with so much crap having to do with the teacher's views of parenthood.

It was his job was to protect her, not the teacher's. He had almost lost his cool, but managed to control it in time.

He walked along when he noticed a commotion by a flower shop, he was curious and spotted a young girl walking by, "Excuse me, Miss?"

She looked at him with beautiful dark eyes. "Yes?" she answered, while thinking to herself, H_e is beautiful, one of the best looking men that I have seen._

"What's going on?" he asked sheepishly. _Interesting, she's attractive, yet looks young, but has a sense of maturity to her. _

She giggled lightly, "This is normal, apparently there are four really cute guys working there including my brother." She joked, "And the school girls mingle here like crazy."

He smiled wryly, "Oh, I see."

She nodded, "Want me to show you the shop? I work there too." She offered, "My name is Aya."

He nodded _Aya? Could it be?_ He thought as he introduced himself, "And Im Wren." offering his hands to hers.

She shook it and escorted him to the flower shop.

Yohji, Ken, and Ran all froze as they saw Wren walk in.

All the girls squealed in delight.

"Another sexy person." said one of the girls.

And the noise and chatter kept going on.

Wren watched in amazement and then his eyes focused on three of the members.

Omi noticed tension in the group.

Aya looked concerned, "Guys…" she began.

"Hey man!" Yohji said walking towards Wren, "Long time no see, Wren."

"Wren?" Omi whispered softly, _this is the man! This is the one I replaced? He _thought.

Ken and Ran all went up to Wren and were all looking at him, as well as each other and trying to speak, now that the shock had worn off.

"Let's go downstairs and talk." Ran ordered.

Wren smiled lazily, "Just like old times."

_**Back at Wren's home**_

"See, this is not so bad." Rayven said giggling as she held Larks hand while they walked by the street.

He groaned lightly while trying to maintain his cool.

"Stop it, Lark! I'm not a disease!" she said angrily.

Lark just rolled his eyes, he let go of her hand for a minute and looked around, "That's nice."

Looking at a window display of knives, he walked towards it, but just as he did, he bumped hard into someone.

"Hey…" came a feminine voice as they both collided onto the floor.

"Lark?" Rayven said surprised.

Lark groaned lightly as something landed on him, he looked up to see a beautiful face look down at him concerned, "Are you alright?" she asked softly.

Lark was dumbfounded, "I…."

Rayven pushed the girl away, "Lark baby! Are you alright?" she asked hugging him.

He sat up, "I'm fine." He said.

The girl stood up and walked away.

"Wait…" he began as she kept on walking.

"What's wrong, Lark?" Rayven asked concerned.

He frowned, "That girl looked really sad, Ray." he said softly.

Her concerned eyes moved to where the girl had gone.

"I'm sorry." Fay said softly, sitting at a coffee shop with Lark and Rayven, "I…I wasn't looking." She admitted.

Rayven looked at Fay and realized that she was a very beautiful look, not that she was worried, but she so innocent looking and yet so strong at the same time, "You looked upset."

She looked down, "I…" she began, "I'm sorry, I was upset." she said softly, "I'm fine now, thanks."

Lark watched Rayven and sighed, they had one of their silent exchange looks.

Fay watched them and envied them, it was obvious the two were so in love, _can I ever have that kind of time with Crawford_, she thought sadly.

"Hello!" Rayven said waving her hands in front of Fay's face, "You drifted off."

Fay looked at her, "I apologize."

Lark looked at her, the girl was beautiful, but it was obvious that she was very lonely, "Do…do you want to hang out with us?" he asked Fay.

She looked up surprised, "What?" she asked quietly.

"You know as friends, you look like a fun person." He explained.

Fay smiled wryly, "It's obvious I don't have any friends, right?"

Lark blushed, "Oh no! I don't mean…"

Rayven rolled her eyes, _time to rescue Lark again, _"No honey, we like you for you." She spoke, "Plus, we'll introduce you to Wren, he's a fun guy we all look up to." She said, "In fact, come have dinner at our place."

Fay smiled, "I'd like that." she said sincerely.

Schuldig looked through the binoculars, "Won't be clear for a while." he spoke.

Crawford nodded, "Call in Nagi and inform him of what's happening."

Schuldig called Nagi, "The fan patrol in the shop won't be clear for awhile, so Crawford and I will be here longer than we expected. I fixed dinner for you and left it in the refrigerator, just in case this happened."

"Okay, any idea how late you will be tonight?" Nagi asked.

"What's wrong, Nagikins can't sleep without me there beside you?" was the answer heard from Schuldig.

"One of these days, Schu, I am going to send you through a wall and collapse it on you." Nagi replied.

"Got to go now and peep in on the fan patrol, see you later." Schuldig said.

_**Downstairs at the flower shop**_

"Okay, how much did you pay those girls to scream and giggle at you guys?" Wren asked laughing.

"Very funny" Ran growled, "They are a nuisance every day, taking up space our regular, paying customers need."

"I personally think they come to drool over Omi" Ken said.

"Keenn" shouted Omi as he pouted at the sable haired ex-soccer player, "Quit saying that, you know how it embarrasses me."

"Yeah, and that's why we do it, Omiitichi." laughed Yohji.

Wren looked at his old friends and thought how really nothing much had changed.

Yohji still thought he was a ladies man, Ran still tried to act cool, as if he didn't care about anyone, and Ken still had the jock attitude with the little boy grin.

He also looked over at Omi and wondered how anyone so young and innocent looking got in this profession.

"You guys look good, how life has been treating you?" asked Wren.

Yohji crossed his arms, "The same I guess, we've been very busy."

"I see." was all that Wren said.

"Well…….." Ken began, but sighed covering his ears as they could hear girls screaming from upstairs.

"This is pathetic." Yohji muttered.

Wren rubbed his jaw, "Why don't you guys come back with me?"

They all looked surprised.

Wren sighed, "What?" he muttered.

They all muttered 'nothing'.

_**Wren's house**_

"What are you making?" Fay asked Rayven as she cooked, "You look like you're cooking for an army."

Rayven giggled, "I am, when Wren called and said he was bringing his friends for dinner."

"Oh," she said softly, "Can I help?" she asked sincerely.

Rayven shook her head and pushed her out of the kitchen, "No! No! No!" she said, "Keep Lark company."

"But…" Fay stammered standing outside in the hallway all alone.

Lark sighed, "Threw you out, didn't she?" he asked coming out of nowhere.

She looked surprised, "I don't seem to be much of help." She said quietly.

Lark walked towards her, "You need to smile more often." he told her, "You look really depressed."

"Oh no!" she said softly, "I'm not like that…it's just…" she began, "I…." sitting down, "I'm in love with someone who I can't get involved with."

"What a bummer for you." Lark replied "Are you going to try and change his mind or leave things status quo?"

Fay thought about how to answer Lark. The smart thing to do would be to leave things status quo, but her heart cried out for her to try and change Crawford's mind.

Lark and Fay heard the front door open and looked up to see Wren and the Weiss guys walk in.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

"Ms. Takatori, what are you doing here?" Yohji asked Fay.

Fay looked surprised as Lark stood next to her, "I just bumped into these guys earlier and they invited me for dinner." She explained.

"Oh," Wren smiled, "I guess I invited my own company as well." Grinning, he walked to Fay and offered her his hands, "I'm Wren."

She smiled, "Fay."

"These are my friends…" Wren introduced.

"I know them already."

Lark stood by the side watching the group, he felt a bit uneasy, something was not that right.

"This is Lark, my younger brother." Wren introduced.

Aya, Omi, Ken, and Yohji all looked grim, _this is the guy we have to kill, _Omi thought sadly.

_This cant be right, _Ran thought as he shook Lark's hands.

"Let's go to the living room and I'll check on Rayven." Wren offered.

They all followed.

Fay started walking when someone held her hand and pulled her towards him, "Ken?" she asked surprised as he held her lightly.

"How are you?" he asked sincerely, "Not hurt? You left without saying goodbye."

She looked at him smiling, "I'm not hurt." She said softly, "Thanks for caring."

He kissed her cheeks lightly, "Anytime." walking back with her to the living room.

"This is interesting." Schuldig whispered looking through the binoculars in Wrens home.

He had just witnessed the exchange between Ken and Fay, his eyes trailed lightly to where Crawford looked as well, but he didn't show any emotion. "Are you ready to do this?" Schuldig asked, "Our orders are to kill everyone in that house."

Crawford cocked his gun, "So be it." He said determinedly.

Schuldig smiled.

"This is delicious." Yohji smiled, "Much better than Omi's cooking." making Omi choke on his soup.

Rayven giggled lightly, "I try."

"My Rayven is the best." Wren said proudly putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Keep your distance from my woman." Lark said firmly.

Ken smiled at that, his eyes went to where Fay sat quietly eating her soup; she seemed to be smiling too.

Ran sighed, "This is not bad." he spoke, "You're doing good, Wren."

"Yes." He said seriously, "I usually have another one around as well, but she's in Tokyo with some friends of hers."

Lark was about to say something when his ears perked up, he looked up suddenly and towards the window.

Wren caught that look, "Lark…"

"Everybody get down!" he yelled, as something broke through the window and hissed.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

_**Ten Minutes Later**_

Rayven coughed as she opened her eyes, there was smoke everywhere as she tried adjusting her eyesight. "Lark..." she whispered hoarsely. "Lark…" coughing. She almost gasped when someone held her lightly.

"Are you alright?" asked Yohji.

She nodded as he helped her stand up. "Let's get to an area where there is less damage."

They walked along where they could see and stumbled across another body, "Omi! Omi!" Yohji spoke shaking him lightly.

Omi stirred and opened his eyes.

"Speak to me, damnit!" Yohji yelled.

"I'm…fine…" he muttered sitting up.

Rayven looked at his leg and gasped, "He's hurt his leg." she spoke.

"I'll carry him, Rayven." Yohji said as he helped Omi up and they went on their way.

Wren was on the floor as he opened his eyes, he moved a bit and found two bodies next to him. He shook his head lightly trying to make the pain go away and sat up groaning.

He spotted Ken lying half dead next to him while Lark on the far end, "Get up you two! This place is going to collapse." he ordered.

It's as if somehow his voice got through to them, they both immediately sat up and looked at each other.

"Damn, that hurt." Lark muttered.

"Damn right." Ken agreed sarcastically.

"Just a bit more and I'll be finished." Fay said softly as she held Ran's waist, he had hurt his chest in the attack, not bad, but it was painful for him to walk. "Are you alright, Ran?"

"Yes." He spoke as they walked to the kitchen, where they found everyone else.

"Thank God!" Rayven whispered, "Everyone's alive." she said with tears in her eyes.

"Not for long." said a voice.

All turned to the door where Schuldig and….

_Crawford? _Fay thought, _Is he……responsible for this? _Watching him with pain in her eyes.

"Why you son of a bitch…" Yohji swore looking at him.

Crawford crossed his arms, "We had orders to destroy the house , regardless of any circumstances." Crawford answered looking at him with calm eyes.

"Orders?" Fay's spoke. "You destroy a person's home because someone tells you to?"

"What you couldn't think for yourselves and realize that you could have murdered several people, but that would have been alright, it's not your fault, you were just following orders." Was the sarcastic comeback from Fay.

Crawford turned to her, his eyes showing emotion for a moment, but he kept himself in control.

"Yes, orders." Schuldig agreed. "That is what we are paid to do, the boss tells us what he wants us to do, and we do it."

"So what? You're some kind of lapdog now?" Ken said angrily.

Crawford raised an eyebrow, "You're one to talk, Weiss."

Rayven held onto Lark, "Are they assassins too?" she asked.

_Assassins? _Fay's mind swirled.

_What the hell was going on? Crawford and Schuldig are saying that Ran, Ken and the others are assassins, _was the thought running through Fay's mind.

"What do you mean assassins? They run a flower shop; they don't run around killing people and bombing peoples' homes." Fay told Crawford.

"Oh my God, that is the funniest thing I've ever heard." gasped Schuldig as he fell to the floor laughing.

Fay looked over at the guys and noticed they could not look her in the face.

"They are not right, are they guys?" asked a puzzled Fay to Weiss. "Tell me they are lying, you couldn't do anything like this, could you?"

Ran looked at Fay, a small sad smile on his face as he answered her in a cold, even tone. "Yes".

Fay looked like she wanted to throw up, as she looked at the guys who had been there for her for years. She thought back to all the times she had cried on their shoulders when her latest boyfriend had dumped her or any other major problem had happen to her.

Wren looked at Crawford, "Forgive me for interrupting your small soap opera, but I want to know who ordered my death, as well as the deaths of my younger brother and sisters."

Crawford answered Wren by saying "Reji Takatori."

"And I am suppose to know who this Takatori person is?" asked Wren.

That I do not know, all we were told to do was destroy the house and everyone in it." Crawford replied.

"Well, I need to tell you guys, you screwed up by not killing me the first time." "Because you will not get a second chance." Wren told Schwartz as he made a move towards them.

"Before you jump too far, there is something you need to see" smirked Schuldig. "Farfie, bring our surprise in."

Farfarello came in dragging a crying Robin. She had shallow cuts on her arms and a bruise on her face.

"You son of a…." screamed Wren, "I will kill you for this."

Wren then calmed down and spoke to Robin. "Robin Bobbin, look at me." "Nothing is going to happen to you; didn't I tell you I would protect all of you?"

Robin stopped crying and looked at Wren. "Yes, Wren. You told me no one would ever hurt us again and no one would ever take us away from you."

Wren then smiled and winked at Robin.

"Aww" crooned Schuldig as he walked over to Robin, playing with her hair. "Guys, doesn't that just warm your heart?' "Sweetie, I wouldn't place to much hope in him right now, because if you look around, we kinda have all of you in a bad spot."

"Schu just shut up and quit trying to scare the girl." Crawford snapped at Schu.

The room got quite as all of the assassins were trying to plan how to get their party out of trouble, and Fay was quite trying to deal with what she had learned tonight about people she thought she had known.

"Great," muttered Ran as he sat in the basement of Wren's house, he was tied up with the rest of the people and he was not happy. "This is great," he repeated sarcastically.

"Shut up." Omi snapped angrily, he hated being all tied up, it pissed him off. He looked around and found Ken and Yohji at the back, Wren chained to a wall, Rayven and Lark tied together, and Fay on the corner by her self.

"I am going to kill him." Wren said angrily, "What the hell is this? You guys brought this to my home!" yelling at Weiss.

"No." Yohji spoke, "Wren, try to understand." He began, "It's Lark."

Rayven stopped, "What?"

"Lark was the target," Ken repeated, "I understand now, it was a decoy." He began, "Somehow there was a decoy that Persia…."

Fay looked up and gasped, "Persia?" she asked, and then she stopped remembering, _Why aren't you involving me in your work? What do you do, father? Why is there all this secrecy?_ All her previous conversations with her father rushed back to her. _Does he…..is he in charge of this group? _Looking down, _my own father._

"Great going, asshole." Ran muttered when Ken let Persia's name slip.

"Fay?" Ken began.

"Shut up," she said softly her face to the side, "Don't call me by my name, Ken. That's if that what your name is."

"It's not like that!" he snapped.

"I don't care." Tears rolling down her cheeks, "Just shut up." She said softly.

"Well, well…" Schuldig began, "What's going on?" he asked with a grin on his face. "Are all the little kitties and their friends not getting along?"

Wren looked up and spat towards him. "Where the hell is Robin?" "So help me God, if you touch her I will follow all of you to hell if need be, and then I will slowly and painfully kill all of you."

About that time, Crawford came down the stairs. "What is going on down here?"

"That one" Schu pointed to Wren, "is threatening to kill us if we harm the pretty one upstairs."

"Nothing is going to happen to the little one; even I draw the line sometimes." Crawford replied.

"Yeah, that's why I saw that psycho bastard of yours with his hands all over her." Wren said.

"For the last time, she will be fine." was shot back by Crawford.

"Let me see her then" Ran said, "then maybe we will believe you."

Crawford looked over at Ran, and then nodded to Schu. Schu went up the stairs and came back with Robin in his arms.

"What is wrong with her?" asked Ran.

"We don't know, she started breathing very heavily, then passed out." Crawford answered back.

"Shit" answered Wren, "She has asthma, there is an inhaler in her bathroom, she needs tow puffs of it. How long has she been passed out?"

"About 20 minutes now." Crawford said.

"Then you jackass, get her to a hospital or she will die." Wren screamed at him.

"Why should we care, just one less problem to deal with" Schu said as he threw Robin at Wren.

Wren looked at Schu with murder in his eyes. "You have signed your death warrant, so don't turn your back….telepathy or no telepathy."

"Let's go" Crawford told Schu.

"Wait a minute, Jesus!" Schuldig said, "We don't know the first thing about taking care of a little girl.'

"I said, let's go to a hospital." Crawford repeated. "Killing the little girl was not on the list."

"I don't know how to care for her." He spoke, "We need a woman." He argued.

Crawford rubbed his jaw and sighed, then his eyes went to Fay, he walked towards her and unchained her, he held her arm lightly, "Don't touch me." She snapped angrily at him.

"You're going to come with us to the hospital for the girl." He told her firmly.

"I will not…" she said stubbornly.

"Fay please." Wren pleaded, "This is my baby! Go with them."

She stopped and sighed crossing her arms, "Why the hell did I get involved with you guys." She said softly as she went along with them.

_**Later at the hospital**_

Fay waited with Schu and Crawford as the doctors in the emergency room looked at Robin. Not wanting to seem like she looking at them, Fay wondered how they could look so normal when they did what they did for a living.

_It's easy, kitten. Did you think all bad guys walked around looking like the commit all the things that they do? If you hadn't found out what all of us do, how would you have felt about us? You already loved the kitties like brothers, but that changed as soon as you found out what they did. You had been in bed with Crawfie and probably were starting to fall in love with him. So who is wrong in this situation? You need to decide what is important to you._ Schu had been talking in her mind, never looking at her.

"Who is here for the little girl that was just brought in? asked the doctor to the group waiting.

"We are how is she doing?" Crawford said.

"Well, she has come to, and we have her breathing regulated. You may want to put a humidifier in her room with the medicine I will give you." was the doctors' reply.

"Can we take her home?" was the question heard from Schu.

"Yes, but just follow the instructions I gave you. She must not be excited in any way, another attack could kill her." was the doctors' reply.

Schu picked Robin in his arms and took her out to the car, with Crawford and Fay following.

"Schu, you sit in the back with the girl, Fay will sit up front with me." Crawford said as he got to the car.

"Why should I sit up front with you?" asked Fay. "I was brought because you needed a woman for her, not as company for either of you."

_What the hell kind of game are you playing now? You know damn well I can't deal with this child._ came to Crawford's mind from Schu.

_Listen to me…the child will have to get used to us all. w_as Crawford's reply.

_What? Did you have a vision tonight while we were waiting?_ came back from Schu.

_Yes, we were set up by Takatori, and I don't like it. It was one thing to go along with the orders, but my vision showed that we will join the others to take down Takatori. That child with you should not have gone through what she did. We let Farfarello mutilate that child and cause her to almost die, yes I can be a son of a bitch, but damn it we went to far this time, do you not agree?_ was the comment from Crawford.

_Brad, I agree, but what about the others? Will they?_ Schu asked.

_They will have no choice._ Crawford looked at Schu through the rear view mirror and Schu felt a chill go down his spine. The last time he had seen that look was the night Brad found him in Paris and helped him clean up….the look of determination, and Schu knew then that Takatori's days were numbered.

About that time Robin opened her eyes and looked at Schu.

"Don't be afraid, little one" Schu told her, "we are taking you back home to your brothers and sister. Guess I wrong, your brother did protect you and really didn't let any one else hurt you."

"I knew he would, Wren always protects us." was the sleepy reply given by the girl.

"Something is not right." Yohji muttered, "Why would Crawford agree so easily on to help Robin?"

"I found that weird too." muttered Omi.

Ken didn't bother answering.

Wren sighed, "I don't care," he muttered, "As long as my baby's alright."

Ran just swore softly.

Rayven hugged Lark through her chains, "I'm so cold," she whispered as he embraced her lightly.

"It's okay, sweetie. It will be over soon." Lark calmed her down.

"I don't get it!" Yohji snapped up, "Why are they helping us."

"Because we were played like amateurs." Schuldig spoke walking in with Robin, "Takatori is going to pay for this." untying them all.

Ran rubbed his bruised wrist, "How do we know it's not a trick."

"This is where you decide." Nagi answered.

"Let go of me?" Fay asked surprised, she was going to walk into the house when Crawford stopped her.

He put a gun in her hand, "Get away from this place, to somewhere safe," he told her, "Don't go back in the house."

_Run away from the truth? _Fay thought, _or face my father? _Her eyes softened thinking about the consequences. She hesitated but gave Crawford his gun back, "I won't need it," she told him, "I'm going back in." walking away from him.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly towards him, "This is not a game for a spoilt brat!" he yelled at her.

"How dare you call me a spoilt brat? Just because I found out everything I thought was right in my world was a lie? That my friends and even my father are assassins? What the hell did you expect from me? Smiles." yelled backed Fay.

"No, but I expect you to act like an adult and not a child, and deal with what you can change and try to accept what you can't." Crawford answered quietly.

After he said that, Crawford walked into the house and down to the basement to talk to the others.

_The Basement_

Everyone stood around trying to figure out what to do, and if they should trust each other.

Schu had taken Robin over to Wren and put her in his arms.

"I apologize for bringing the child into this. Following orders is not an excuse. The doctor said to keep her quiet and stress free and she should be fine. I promise you this; Takatori will pay for all of this. As an assassin, you know we only obey orders and never really question who or what the job is, but this time he went way too far. The information given to us was completely false, and I do have my own honor code." Schu told Wren while looking down at Robin.

"I don't know what to say, I have calmed down and what you have said has some truth in it, but using children is about as low as you can go, especially letting that psycho bastard of yours do that to her." Wren answered.

_Schu, is everything alright down there? Do you think they will help us?_ Crawford asked.

_I have scanned Wren and the rest, I think they will help us, but we will have to be upfront with them. I want that bastard Takatori taken down._ Schuldig told Crawford.

"What now?" Ken muttered.

Yohji rubbed his jaw, "I think were all wiped out for now, let's regroup tomorrow and discuss."

"And it looks like we're homeless." Wren muttered.

Rayven smiled, "You guys can come to my place." She offered.

"With you here everyday, twenty four seven, I keep forgetting you have your own place." Wren joked.

She blushed slightly.

"I'm going home for now." Ran said walking.

The rest followed, each going their separate ways with separate thoughts.

Schuldig walked out hands in his pockets, and sighed. It had gone better than he had anticipated, he stopped when he saw Fay standing by his car, and he walked towards her, "What's up?"

She looked at him, "How did it go?"

"Good." He said firmly, "What are you doing here?"

She hesitated, but then looked up, "I realized you guys don't have anywhere to go." She admitted, "So I couldn't go, My uncle…" then she stopped and had a stubborn look to her delicate features, "Reiji Takatori probably blew your place up by now too."

He whistled, "Smart woman."

She crossed her arms, "Yeah, well…." Her voice trailing off, "I want to be involved in your meeting tomorrow." She told him, "I want to know what's going on."

"It's really your business."

"No, it's not!" Crawford said firmly, "Are you stupid or what? You think if you get involved with us, you're going to end up happy?" he demanded.

"This is not about you, but about me." She argued.

He narrowed his eyes "And this is no place for a woman of your caliber."

She stopped, "What? My caliber?" she asked, "You think I'm here for the thrills? This is my daddy involved and my uncle, I have the right to know what's going on!" she snapped angrily at him.

"Then ask them!" he shouted back.

"Is that why you keep pushing me away!" she demanded tears in her eyes, "Because you think I'm a high snooty brat? Or are you too good enough for me?"

"Its not…" he began, but she slapped him and walked away unaware of all the dangers that lie on the streets.

Crawford looked at Schuldig, and Schuldig just looked at Crawford and smiled.

Here is Chapter 3 and we are now working on Chapter 4.Let us know what you think, we are waiting for your comments. Oh by the way, we don't own anything but the new characters.


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